Name: Mexican Grilled Beef (Carne Asada)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Mexico
Ingredients: 3 cups unsoaked wood chips or chunks (optional); 3 limes, quartered; 1 cup coarsely grated queso blanco or Cotija or Jack cheese; Coarse salt (kosher or sea); 1½ pounds beef flap meat, skirt steak, hanger steak, or another thin (¼ inch) cut of beef; Freshly ground black pepper (optional); Garlic powder (optional); 20 to 24 corn tortillas, preferably freshly made at a Mexican tortilla shop or market, or 12 small (6 inch) flour tortillas; 1 bunch radishes, stemmed and thinly sliced; 1 large or 2 small cucumbers, thinly sliced; 1 small head green cabbage (about 1 pound), cored and sliced paper-thin; 2 ripe avocados, pitted, peeled, cut into wedges or diced, and sprinkled with fresh lime juice to keep it from discoloring; 1 cup sour cream; 2 poblano peppers, or 4 banana peppers or other large, moderately hot chiles; 1 bunch scallions, trimmed; 1 sweet onion, cut crosswise into ¼ inch-thick slices

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Planet Barbecue

By Steven Raichlen

Published 2010

About

Most cultures have a barbecued street food, a dish that’s simultaneously nutritional, varied, and filling enough to serve as a full meal. Mexico’s version is carne asada—literally grilled meat—and as elsewhere on Planet Barbecue, the simple name doesn’t begin to do the dish justice.

Carne asada starts with, no surprise here, a thin, cheap, flavorful cut of beef from the steer’s underbelly or loin. Some grill masters marinate the meat in chiles, oregano, or lime juice;